Hearing Loss
by CayaKat
Summary: When Zane isn't participating in hardly any of the ninjas' conversations, they suspect something is wrong. And when the nindroid himself did not know they were speaking to begin with, they KNOW something is wrong.
1. Part 1

_((I decided to try out making a short story this time, since most of my works tend to be long and I rarely finish them. This time, I had Zane go for a little adventure in being deaf! I love writing from Zane's point of view; I get to be as wordy as I want. :3_

_Hope you all enjoy!))_

* * *

The first incident in which I noticed something was wrong was when I was unable to hear the call for dinner. Normally, my hearing is quite acute, as a result of having been installed with sensitive auditory detectors. Yet, somehow, I had been unable to notice the summons that my brothers beside me had responded to. Then, while we all ate Nya's homemade Hayashi rice, I had been privately surprised at how hushed everyone was. True, we lost the first Fang Blade to Pythor, which was a cause for down-heartedness. But Jay had just discovered his true potential; an event that should follow with celebratory chatter. So why were they acting so silent?

"Earth to Zane," came Kai's annoyed voice. I glanced up from my dish to meet the frowning stares of my comrades.

"Yes?" I responded politely, internally confused as to why they were looking at me as if I had done something wrong.

My brother of fire rolled his eyes. "I _said_, 'Do you have any clue where the next Fang Blade might be hidden?'"

"Oh, I apologize; I did not hear your question." As a matter of fact, I was quite positive he had not asked it at all. But I chose not to point out that fact; perhaps I had been "zoning out" like my brothers claimed I did often. "But, no, I do not know where the next Fang Blade may be. The location of the first one does not provide any clear clues as to where the second might be hidden."

"Zane, are you okay?" asked Nya, sidestepping my response to Kai's question and knitting her eyebrows in worry. "You've been really quiet since we got home. Well, quieter than normal."

I blinked uncomprehendingly. Of course I had been quiet. After all, everyone else had been conversing very little, so I hardly had any reason to speak. Why was that concerning her?

"Yes, I am fine."

"Are you sure?" frowned Jay. "I mean, you didn't hear when Nya said dinner was ready, and you've been really jumpy when one of us walks up behind you, and you didn't even join in when—"

All of a sudden, Jay stopped his rambling, and I stared at him in mild surprise. His lips kept trying to form words, and he was energetically moving around his hands as if he was acting out what he was saying, but nothing came out of his mouth. I glanced around the table to see my friends' reactions. However, nobody else seemed to notice this odd phenomenon, most of them still watching my blue-clad brother in mild interest. Nya opened her mouth to interrupt Jay's silent speech, and she also began soundlessly speaking.

I ran the situation through my logic parameters, and it suddenly, distressingly, made sense. Something was wrong with my audio capabilities.

Without saying anything about my predicament out loud, I tapped on the side of my head with my fist to see if I could jump-start my hearing. It would be easier to explain what had happened if I could have a proper discussion with my friends. Aside from receiving a few odd looks, though, nothing changed, and my sense of hearing was as nonexistent as ever.

With a sigh that attracted the attention of the others, I announced, "I believe my audio input sensor has been damaged." It was very queer to speak without hearing any of the noise that was coming out of my mouth.

Cole mouthed—although he was likely talking aloud—"What?"

"I am unable to hear any of you speak, or any other noise for that matter," I explained, hoping that my voice was not elevated or decreased due to my recent handicap.

The others exchanged worried glances, and Jay stood up from his seat to walk over to me. Puzzled at this action, I attempted to read his lips as he told me something. Apparently I did not have the skill to read lips, though, and simply watched him confusedly. I was only able to understand what he wanted me to do when the lightning ninja pretended he was opening a door in his chest.

I pushed back my chair and got to my feet as well, pulling down the top half of my ninja suit. With practiced ease, I found the nearly-unnoticeable niche on the side of my chest, and pressed against it. The panel unlocked, and I then pulled it open to reveal my chest cavity. Jay immediately bent forward and started to inspect my innards for anything out of place.

This was the second time I had allowed the blue ninja to access to my inner mechanics. The first instance was not long after I regained my memory, and had been revealed to be an android to my brothers. Jay had requested to study how I was built, and I obliged, so long as he did not touch anything. It was rather restricting for a curious inventor such as my brother, but I was still reluctant to let anybody—outside of my now-deceased father and myself—mess with anything. I feared that I might be damaged, with no creator around to fix me. For about an hour or so, Jay had examined my wiring and switches, writing down little notes and occasionally asking questions. Since he was so scientific and respectful about the process, I determined he was trustworthy enough to figure out why I was having trouble hearing.

I felt a peculiar tugging sensation, at which I nervously glanced down to see what my brother was up to. "—the problem. He has a frayed wire attached to his audio switch."

"I do?" I wondered aloud, glad that I was suddenly able to hear, but not happy at the news.

Jay's head shot up and nearly hit my chin, surprised as he was at my response. "You can hear?"

"For now," I clarified, before frowning at my chest cavity. "I cannot imagine how one of my wires would become frayed; my father was very careful about their positioning to prevent friction."

My brother scratched his neck, saying, "As far as I can tell, it must've gotten loose over the years, and started rubbing against one of your gears. I think you just need a new wire, actually. It isn't really that seri—"

Every sound suddenly cut off again, and I reached into my inner mechanics to locate the frayed wire Jay claimed to have found. Sure enough, my fingers encountered pointy resistance along my main audio line. I gave a frustrated noise I could not hear, and fiddled with it to try to regain my hearing as I had moments ago. However, the thin piece of metal did not reconnect, and I was forced to give up my attempt after a minute or so.

There was a light tapping sensation on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Jay holding a torn piece of paper in front of my face. In my brother's usual hurried scrawl, it read, "_The Bounty's near my parent's place right now, so we'll go there to get a new wire for you in the morning._" I was tempted to point out that he should have written _parents'_ instead of _parent's,_ but decided it was not worth the effort. Few of the people I knew appreciated help in their grammar, and Jay was not among them.

I nodded my understanding of his message, and we then returned to our dinner. Since I was unable to freely participate in any of the conversations, I allowed my thoughts to drift elsewhere. Only a short week ago had my friends learned of my new robotic identity, while the rest of Ninjago remained unaware. "The rest of Ninjago" included Jay's parents, who we were about to visit for some new wiring. What would their response be like if we told them the truth? Should I request for my true nature to remain a secret? I strongly disliked having to be secretive around respectable people such as the Walkers. On the other hand, though, it might be disastrous if they knew I was not human.

I sighed within my head, not wanting to concern my accomplices by exhaling out loud. Perhaps a night's rest would help me figure out which situation I would rather face.


	2. Part 2

Walking along the lonely desert road the next day, I still did not know what to do. I had spent quite a lot of time reflecting on possible consequences the night before, but was forced to enter hibernation mode around midnight without a solution.

The safest course of action would be to avoid mentioning that I was an android. We could always inform the Walkers in the future, and this would allow me more time to figure out how to broach the topic. The problem was that Jay and I would be required to lie to his parents, and we two were the worst at keeping secrets. While it seemed like a better idea to hide my identity, it could upset our relationship with the couple if they sensed we were not telling the truth.

The other option was to blatantly reveal that I was a robot, and in need of repair. But if I did so, the aging couple might panic and demand my leave, as most humans are prone to do around someone—or some_thing_—that was clearly different from them. Although another possibility was that, they being inventors and mechanics, the Walkers may become overly excited and try to take me apart for study. I could easily imagine Jay's parents behaving in either of those equally unpleasant reactions, if I disclosed who I was.

As the piles of assorted mechanical parts became more distinguishable, and we drew nearer to "Ed & Edna's Scrap and Junk," I wished that it had not been my audio that was damaged. Jay knew his parents better than I would, and may have a better idea as to what their reaction would be most like. But because of my deafness, I could not converse with him on the topic.

My brother and I paused beneath the glowing sign of the junkyard, and I saw Jay shout out something that looked like, "Mom, Dad! I'm here!"

Worriedly, I caught his eye, still unsure about how to go about this process. The blue-clothed ninja smiled confidently, and jerked his thumb in the direction of his chest. "_Let me handle this_," he was silently telling me, and I nodded my agreement. After all, there was not much else I could do.

We walked further inside, and I glanced around at the piles of junk. Hopefully one of them would have the wire I needed, or else we would need to fly over to Ninjago City to continue our search. While I was confident that nobody would object to such a trip, it would leave this visit a waste of time.

Ed and Edna Walker suddenly appeared, rushing to their son and giving him a tight hug. As they turned to greet me, I smiled politely, receiving a pair of beaming grins in return. Edna said something, clearly talking to me, but her mouth movements were too difficult to discern. I looked to Jay helplessly, hoping he knew what to do.

"Zane… now… wire…" I was still mostly unable to figure out what my brother was mouthing, even if it was easier than his parents. Carefully I watched the older Walkers for their reactions. However, their sun-tanned faces did not become suddenly suspicious, frightened, or excited, so I still was unsure of what Jay told them.

Mr. Walker waved his hand around and said a few words with a smile, before he and his wife walked off in the direction of their trailer adorned with colorful lights. The ninja of lightning yanked on my sleeve, so I assumed we had permission to search the junkyard and followed him.

I was led to a zone somewhere behind the trailer, and was pleasantly surprised with a huge selection of wires all gathered up in a mound. We had our choice of insulated or non-insulated wiring, thick or extremely thin, and multiple types of metal. There were exceedingly long wires neatly coiled up, and jumbles of shorter lengths carelessly thrown in the pile. It seemed impossible for the junkyard to _not_ have the type of wire I needed.

I sensed a presence behind me, and turned to see Mrs. Walker walking in our direction with a pencil and pad of paper. She raised the white sheet so I could make out the words, "_Let me know if you need anything else_."

Smiling at her thoughtful generosity, I responded aloud, "We will. Thank you."

Edna bobbed her head cheerfully, and handed the office supplies to her son before leaving once more. Jay quickly scribbled on a fresh sheet of paper."_I didn't say anything about you being a nindroid,_"—"nindroid" was the title my team had given me when learning that I was a robot—"_but I might have to later, k?_"

I nodded in understanding. While I hoped that his parents would not learn of my identity until I was ready, it might become inevitable, especially if we required assistance in finding the correct wire.

The ninja of lightning wrote down something else below his first statement. "_Then open up and let's get searching!_"

It took an incredibly long time, trying to find the perfect replacement. According to Jay, I was probably created with customized wires, since they were so unusually thin, yet strong. Whatever I was built with, it was not mass produced, making our job even harder. Our procedure consisted of snatching up every metal line in sight, comparing it to the now-cut one sticking out of my chest, and then tossing it in the "wrong" pile. The only detail that helped to shorten our process was that I required an insulated wire, so we could skip all the non-insulated types. But, nevertheless, our job was dull and seemed to never end.

_Pick up, compare, throw away. Pick up, compare, throw away. Pick up, compare, throw away._

Occasionally, we would take a break when Jay jotted down something for me to read. For the most part, he wrote complaints about the work and suggestions for speeding it up. I was appreciative that my voice was still operating, so I was able to respond normally despite my inability to hear.

_Pick up, compare, throw away. Pick up, compare, throw away. Pick up, compare, throw away._

A couple times, one of my brother's parents would come out to check on our progress and offer to help. I would have to snap my panel closed before they noticed and politely refuse the offer each time, still worried as I was for them to find out my true nature.

_Pick up, compare, throw away. Pick up, compare… Double-check… Triple-check…_

After around 4.3 hours, our searching suddenly came to an end. It had been nearly at the bottom of the heap where we suddenly came upon a perfect match. Jay started cheering and jumping around in apparent silence, while I laughed in joy.

"About time!" he mouthed, and carefully straightened out the wire to look for any abrasions. My brother of lightning wiped off some dirt, and we shared a happy grin.

Jay scribbled down a statement, which read, "_I'm gonna have to rewire you now, which means I need to you to shut down. Don't want to take any chances, ya know?_"

I frowned at the words the blue-clad ninja wrote. Originally, I had planned on working jointly with him to replace my audio line. Even if I allowed him the most trust out of everybody to access my inner mechanics, I was still not completely over my fear of being damaged.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right. If Jay _was_ to accidentally rupture something, it was safer for me to be shut down and not be seriously affected. As much as I disliked the concept of being completely helpless, it was better than having permanent damage done to my body.

After another moment's hesitation, I nodded to indicate my approval.

We walked over to an area that was more out of sight from the trailer, and I sat upon the hard-packed dirt. After double-checking to make sure the Walkers were not about to come out and see Jay rewiring me, I reached into my chest cavity. My fingers traced the mostly-unused power switch, and I was suddenly attacked with another bout of anxiety.

Without warning, I grabbed Jay's wrist and looked seriously into his startled blue eyes. "Please be careful," I told him.

The ninja of lightning blinked once before giving me a broad, assuring smile. "I promise," he mouthed, and I relaxed my grip.

Worry bubbling up within me, I shut my eyes to gather my courage. _This is a necessary process. Jay would not purposefully harm me. There was no need to be so concerned._ It was not easy as easy as I would have liked to resist the anxieties that threatened to overwhelm me.

With a suppressed sigh, I clicked my power switch.


	3. Part 3

_Aural capabilities reestablished._

_Voice systems online._

_Nervous system online._

_Locomotive capabilities restored._

_Visual capabilities now operational._

The voice that was not mine faded along with the blackness, and my eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden perception of light above me. It seemed to have hardly been more than a second after I turned off my power switch. But I supposed that was to be expected; my internal clock was deactivated along with everything else.

Heedless of what my surroundings were like, I sat up and immediately flexed my fingers. So far my limbs seemed to be properly responding. I punched a fist into my left hand, testing my artificial nerves. The sensation of pain was proof enough that my primary functions were completely operational. Then I snapped my fingers next to each of my ears, and was pleased to note that my hearing had returned to normal. Lastly, I gave a high-pitched whistle. Nothing seemed to be off with my voice, either.

Ceasing my tests, I observed the area around me and realized with a start that I was no longer lying on the dirt ground. Instead, I was on top of a table that had been covered with a thick blanket. Rather than having the open blue sky above me, my environment consisted of a relatively small dining room/kitchen. My early analysis stated that I was inside the Walkers' trailer, which could only mean one thing…

"Hey Zane, you feeling better, buddy?"

A familiar voice pulled out of my thoughts, and I looked behind me to see Jay grinning with a mixture of exhaustion and cheeriness. There was a sheen of sweat on his face, suggesting that he had been working for quite a while. Out of curiosity I checked what time it was using my now-operational internal clock, and was a little surprised to see it had been 3.9 hours since I shut down. Was it that difficult to rewire my audio?

"Yes," I responded affirmatively. "My hearing has returned; thank you." My eyes traveled around once more to take in the scenery, before hesitantly asking, "Did you… tell them?"

My brother heaved a tired sigh, and sat down upon a plastic chair. "Yeah, I was having some trouble, and it was getting late. My dad's pretty good with wiring, so I asked him for some help. They actually took the whole 'your friend's a nindroid' thing really well. Wanted to poke around in you, as a matter of fact, but I shooed them off. I remembered that you didn't like having people mess around with your insides, and so I figured you would've refused yourself if you'd been awake. While I trust my parents with a lot of stuff, messing around with my friend just 'cause he's made of metal doesn't really seem like a good idea. Besides, they don't really focus on the whole 'artificial intelligence' thing in their normal work, so they didn't have any excuse to go through your body in my opinion. They're more along the lines of your average mechanic who make things that don't think."

I smiled happily, despite Jay's long-winded rambling. Not only was my hearing back, but the Walkers accepted who I was, and my brother had respected my privacy. It was wonderfully good news in the face of what my fears had been.

"Oh, look at you!" Slightly startled at the sudden voice, I looked over to see Mrs. Walker by the doorway. "Ed, come here, he's awake!"

Jay's mother came over to where I was still sitting upon the table, looking at me with fascination. "My… You know I never would've guessed that you were a robot. Oh, you look just like a human! You know, I'd _love_ to meet what genius built such an amazing young man like you."

Averting my eyes, I neutrally responded, "My father has passed on." While her words were somewhat flattering, Edna was still singling out the fact I was an android, which disappointed me a little. I had hoped that she would treat me no differently than before. It did not help that she brought up such an upsetting subject.

Looking flustered, the aging woman said, "Oh dear, I'm so sorry… Well, I'm sure he's in a better place."

"Well, look at that!" Mr. Walker exclaimed, interrupting the distressing moment. "Finally woke up, eh? How're you feelin'?"

"I am feeling better now, thank you," I replied, although my thanks was for an additional unspoken reason. Having just been powered on, my mind was particularly vulnerable to stressful topics, and I was afraid I would have been unable to keep my composure had the conversation about my father continued.

Looking thoughtful, Edna began, "You know, this reminds me of the time that Jay—"

"Okay!" interrupted my brother of lightning, all traces of his former exhaustion now gone. "Well, thanks for your help, Mom and Dad, but we _really_ should get going. Don't wanna worry the others, heh, right Zane?"

"Technically, we said that we may stay until—"

"Right, so we'd better start heading out now!"

Jay gave each of his parents a quick hug, and looked to me expectantly. Sensing that he wanted to avoid staying at the junkyard longer than needed, I cooperatively slipped off of the table. The moment my feet touched the floor, though, my knees buckled beneath my weight, and I was forced to grasp the back of a chair to stay steady.

"Oh gosh," said Ed, rushing to my side. "Oh golly, are you okay, son?"

I nodded, before more carefully testing my ability to stand. "I merely need some time for my processors to adjust after having been powered down for four hours. You could say that I am a little weak after being in what is equivalent to a coma." Still shaky, I was forced to wait for my sense of balance to return to normal before going any further.

"A coma?" repeated Jay in surprise. "So you don't completely shut down for regular sleep?"

I managed to take a step without feeling as I was going to fall down, and then smiled wryly at my brother. "If I did, I wouldn't wake up until somebody manually activated my power switch."

"Oh yeah… I guess that does make sense."

Soon, my legs stopped trembling and I was able to take a couple more steps without assistance. Now confident in my ability to walk, I announced, "I am ready to head back to the Bounty."

"Are you sure, dear?" asked Mrs. Walker worriedly. "If you need some time to recover, we'd be happy to let you stay for as long as you want."

"I will be fine," I replied patiently. "Besides, it is my night to cook dinner. I shall need all the time I can have in order to prepare a decent meal."

Jay scoffed, "What do you mean 'decent?' I bet you could make _mud newt_ taste delicious."


End file.
